Systems and methods for estimation of building wall area

ABSTRACT

A wall area estimation system generates an estimated wall area measurement of a building based on the received roof measurements (e.g., those generated by, received from or found in a three dimensional model of the roof) and a reference distance. The reference distance is a measurement indicative of a distance between a reference point on the roof and a ground surface. This reference distance may be used to determine how for down to extend the walls of the building (e.g., to a ground level) when building a three dimensional digital model of the building to aid in generating wall area measurements. The resulting wall measurements, roof measurements, measurements of areas missing from the wall used to generate a wall estimate report, or a combined roof and wall estimate report including various different identifiers indicating the different features and measurements based on the three dimensional model.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

This invention is in the field of building size estimation, and inparticular, building wall area estimation.

Description of the Related Art

The square footage measurements of a building walls are used as a mainfactor in quickly estimating costs of materials and labor to repair orreplace walls (or wall coverings, such as siding, paint, and variousfacade materials) of the building and make other improvements ormodifications to the entire building (e.g., to estimate the cost ofsiding materials to re-side a house). Thus, accurate wall areameasurements are instrumental in these calculations. Current methods ofmeasuring wall area often involve a person having to visit the buildingand manually measure particular dimensions of the building, or byreferring to original plans or blueprints of the building. Manuallymeasuring the dimensions for calculation of building wall area is costlyand original plans for the building may be unavailable or out of date.Therefore, accurate methods for estimating and verifying wall area thatavoid these drawbacks are desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, a wall area estimation system generates an estimatedwall area measurement of a building based on the received roofmeasurements (e.g., those generated by or found in a three dimensionalmodel of the roof) and a reference distance. This reference distance isa measurement indicative of a distance between a reference point on theroof and the ground surface. This reference distance may be used todetermine how for down to extend the walls of the building (e.g., to aground level) when building a digital three dimensional model of thebuilding to aid in generating wall area measurements.

The wall area measurement estimation system may be a system integratedwith a roof estimation system or other system that provides roofmeasurements. In other embodiments, the roof area measurements may beprovided by an external source, system or entity, or may be inputmanually by an operator of the wall area measurement estimation system.

The resulting wall measurements, roof measurements, measurements ofareas missing from the wall, etc., generated by the wall estimationsystem may be used to generate a wall estimate report, or a combinedroof and wall estimate report. The estimate report may include variousdifferent identifiers indicating different features and measurementsdisplayed on images and/or line drawings of the building and/or indifferent areas of the report based on the generated three dimensionalmodel of the building.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a flow diagram showing an example method of generating anestimated wall area measurement, according to one non-limitingillustrated embodiment.

FIG. 1B is a flow diagram showing an example method that may be includedas part of the generating the three dimensional model of the buildingstep of the method shown in FIG. 1A, according to one non-limitingillustrated embodiment.

FIG. 1C is a flow diagram showing an example method of generating anestimated wall area measurement using a first a second aerial image ofthe building, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 2A is an example screenshot of a user interface of a system forgenerating wall area measurements showing a three dimensional model ofthe roof, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 2B is an example screenshot of the user interface of the system ofFIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showing a planar surfaceof the ground under the roof, according to one non-limiting illustratedembodiment.

FIG. 2C is an example screenshot of the user interface of the system ofFIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showing a threedimensional model of the building generated using the three dimensionalmodel of the roof and the planar surface of the ground under the roofshown in FIG. 2B, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an example screenshot of the user interface of the system ofFIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showing a north sideperspective view of the three dimensional model of the building of FIG.2C, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an example screenshot of the user interface of the system ofFIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showing an east sideelevation view of the three dimensional model of the building of FIG.2C, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an example screenshot of the user interface of the system ofFIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showing a west sideelevation view of the three dimensional model of the building of FIG.2C, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an example screenshot of the user interface of the system ofFIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showing a top plan view ofthe three dimensional model of the building of FIG. 2C, according to onenon-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an example screenshot of the user interface of the system ofFIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showing selection of abuilding wall of the three dimensional model of the building of FIG. 2C,according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an example screenshot of the user interface of the system ofFIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showing removal of theselected building wall of the three dimensional model of the building ofFIG. 7, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a computing environment in whichsystems and methods for estimation of building wall area may beimplemented or of which they may be a part.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1A is a flow diagram showing an example method 100 of generating anestimated wall area measurement, according to one non-limitingillustrated embodiment.

While each of the steps shown in FIG. 1A contributes to the overallsolution, each can be used independently or in various combinations toyield improvements in estimating wall area measurements as discussedbelow. Below is an overview of each step in the process, which will befollowed by a more detailed discussion of each step.

At 102, the process receives roof measurements of a building having aroof. These measurements may be estimated or actual dimensional and/orarea measurements of the roof such as one or more of: roof edge lengths,ridge lengths, gable lengths, hip lengths, valley lengths, roof sectionpitch, roof area measurements, planar roof section area measurements,planar roof section dimension measurements, etc. These roof measurementsmay be generated internally by a component of a system that estimateswall area measurements (i.e., a wall area measurement estimation system)and received from such an internal component, or may be generated andreceived from an external component or entity separate from the wallarea measurement estimation system. In some embodiments, the externalcomponent is located remotely from the wall area measurement estimationsystem.

For example, in some embodiments, the wall area measurement estimationsystem may be a system integrated with a roof estimation system or othersystem that provides roof measurements. In other embodiments, the roofarea measurements may be provided by an external source, system orentity, or may be input manually by an operator of the wall areameasurement estimation system.

At 104, the process receives a reference distance. This referencedistance is a measurement indicative of a distance between a referencepoint on the roof and a ground surface. This reference distance may beused to determine how for down to extend the walls of the building(e.g., to a ground level) when building a three dimensional model of thebuilding to aid in generating wall area measurements.

In particular, at 106 the process generates an estimated wall areameasurement of the building based on the received roof measurements andthe reference distance. The roof measurements may be generated by theroof estimation system described in one or more of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/148,439 filed on Apr. 17, 2008 and entitledAERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION SYSTEM AND METHOD, U.S. Pat. No. 8,078,436 issuedDec. 13, 2011, and entitled AERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS,U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/467,244 filed May 15, 2009 andentitled PITCH DETERMINATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AERIAL ROOFESTIMATION, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/467,250 filed May 15,2009 and entitled CONCURRENT DISPLAY SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AERIAL ROOFESTIMATION, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/019,228 filed Feb. 1,2011 and entitled GEOMETRIC CORRECTION OF ROUGH WIREFRAME MODELS DERIVEDFROM PHOTOGRAPHS and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.61/594,964, filed Feb. 2, 2012 and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS OFESTIMATION OF BUILDING FLOOR AREA” which was converted toNon-provisional application Ser. No. 13/385,607, which are eachincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The roofestimation system may′ be integrated with the wall area measurementestimation system, or with various components of the wall areameasurement estimation system described herein.

In many such embodiments, one or more of the roof measurements are basedon aerial photographs of the building via manual or automated analysisof roof features, such as by using the roof estimation system or modulesdescribed in one or more of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/148,439filed on Apr. 17, 2008 and entitled AERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION SYSTEM ANDMETHOD, U.S. Pat. No. 8,078,436 issued Dec. 13, 2011, and entitledAERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS, U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/467,244 filed May 15, 2009 and entitled PITCH DETERMINATIONSYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION, U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/467,250 filed May 15, 2009 and entitled CONCURRENT DISPLAYSYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION, U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/019,228 filed Feb. 1, 2011 and entitled GEOMETRIC CORRECTIONOF ROUGH WIREFRAME MODELS DERIVED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS, and U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. PHOTOGRAPHS, and U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/594,964, filed Feb. 2, 2012 and entitled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF ESTIMATION OF BUILDING FLOOR AREA” which wasconverted to Non-provisional application Ser. No. 13/385,607. Thus,utilizing some embodiments described herein, one may estimate wall areameasurements of a building merely using one or more aerial photographsof the building, with little or no additional information initiallyneeded.

FIG. 1B is a flow diagram showing an example method 110 that may beincluded as part of the generating the three dimensional model of thebuilding step of the method shown in FIG. 1A, according to onenon-limiting illustrated embodiment.

While each of the steps shown in FIG. 1B contributes to the overallsolution, each can be used independently or in various combinations toyield improvements in estimating wall area measurements as discussedbelow.

At 112, the process initially includes the three dimensional model ofthe roof described above as part of the three dimensional model of thebuilding.

At 114, the process generates a wall in the three dimensional model ofthe building by extending the wall from along an edge of the roof towardthe ground surface. As explained in more detail below, in manyembodiments, in the three dimensional model the wall is dropped fromsome distance (see building three dimensional model 224 in FIG. 2cthrough FIG. 7) and set back from the edge of the roof to account foreave overhangs. In particular, the wall area estimation system extendsthe wall a distance until either intersecting a level of the groundsurface, according to the received measurement indicative of thedistance between the reference point on the roof and the ground surface,or intersecting another surface of the roof, according to the threedimensional model of the roof. In this manner, both the dimensions andshape of the wall may be built within the three dimensional model of thebuilding. For example, this may include a triangular shape of the wallunderneath a roof gable, a section of the wall between two levels of theroof, etc. This process may be repeated for each exterior wall of thebuilding to build a three dimensional model of the building including,for example, models of the roof and exterior walls.

At 116, the process uses dimensions of the wall generated in the threedimensional model of the building to determine an area of the wall. Thisalso may be repeated for each wall such that a total wall area for theentire building may be generated.

This three dimensional model of the building may be rendered within agraphical user interface of the wall estimation system. The graphicaluser interface provides selectable user interface elements within thegraphical user interface configured to be placed by a user on areas ofwalls of the building within the three dimensional model. Thesegraphical user interface elements represent areas missing from the wallsuch as doors or windows which are not to be included in the total wallarea measurement. These graphical user interface elements may havedimensions corresponding to these areas missing from the wall and mayalso be adjustable by the user. The graphical user interface elementsmay also have initial dimensions corresponding to those of a predefinedwindow size or a predefined door size (e.g., standard or typical windowor door sizes). Once placed on the rendered three dimensional model, thewall area measurements will be automatically adjusted accordingly,corresponding to the area associated with each respective element placedon three dimensional model. The wall estimation system may perform thisaction in a variety of manners. Three different example processes toperform this automatic adjustment of the wall area measurements include,but are not limited to: (a) create a ‘cut out’ holes wall polygon toyield one or more new polygons that combine to form a wall with holes.Calculating the area of the new polygon(s) naturally yields a sum thatis less the holes or (b) overlay objects that represent thesize/position of ‘holes’ without making cuts into the polygon andcalculate the combined area by subtracting the area of the solid wallfrom the area of the representative ‘holes’. (c) Combination of (a) and(b)—cut the holes from the wall polygon, but then fill them in withobjects representing those voids. The wall area is thus already adjustedby the cut outs without having to subtract out the areas of the objectsstanding in their place.

FIG. 1C is a flow diagram showing an example method 120 of generating anestimated wall area measurement using a first a second aerial image ofthe building, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

At 122, the process correlates the first aerial image with the secondaerial image. This correlation process is described in one or more ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/148,439 filed on Apr. 17, 2008 andentitled AERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION SYSTEM AND METHOD, U.S. Pat. No.8,078,436 issued Dec. 13, 2011, and entitled AERIAL ROOF ESTIMATIONSYSTEMS AND METHODS, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/467,244 filedMay 15, 2009 and entitled PITCH DETERMINATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORAERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/467,250filed May 15, 2009 and entitled CONCURRENT DISPLAY SYSTEMS AND METHODSFOR AERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/019,228filed Feb. 1, 2011 and entitled GEOMETRIC CORRECTION OF ROUGH WIREFRAMEMODELS DERIVED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS

At 124 the process generates a three-dimensional model of the roof thatincludes a plurality of planar roof sections that each have acorresponding slope, area, and edges. This three-dimensional model ofthe roof is generated based at least in part on the correlation betweenthe first and second aerial images, which is also described in one ormore of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/148,439 filed on Apr. 17,2008 and entitled AERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION SYSTEM AND METHOD, U.S. Pat.No. 8,078,436 issued Dec. 13, 2011, and entitled AERIAL ROOF ESTIMATIONSYSTEMS AND METHODS, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/467,244 filedMay 15, 2009 and entitled PITCH DETERMINATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORAERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/467,250filed May 15, 2009 and entitled CONCURRENT DISPLAY SYSTEMS AND METHODSFOR AERIAL ROOF ESTIMATION, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/019,228filed Feb. 1, 2011 and entitled GEOMETRIC CORRECTION OF ROUGH WIREFRAMEMODELS DERIVED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS.

At 126 the process generates an estimated wall area measurement of thebuilding. This estimated wall area measurement is generated based atleast in part on the three-dimensional model of the roof and ameasurement indicative of the distance between a reference point on theroof and the ground surface. For example, this reference distance may beused by the wall area estimation system to determine how for down toextend the walls of the building (e.g., to a ground level) when buildinga three dimensional model of the building

In some embodiments, the entire process, or nearly the entire process,of generating estimated wall areas is automated by the systemautomatically recognizing these particular building features and groundfeatures in one or more images of the building through image analysisthat utilizes typical characteristics of such features as viewed fromthe various angles of those in the one or more images.

FIGS. 2A through 8 show example screen shots of a graphical userinterface of the system for generating wall area measurements at variouspoints in the process of building the three dimensional model of thebuilding and generating the wall measurements (e.g., as described abovewith reference to FIGS. 1A-1C).

FIG. 2A is an example screenshot 200 of a user interface of a system forgenerating wall area measurements showing a three dimensional model ofthe roof 210, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment.

Shown is a graphical user interface including two panels. The rightpanel 204 is displaying an aerial image of a building showing a topoblique view 206 of the building and the left panel 202 is displaying aninteractive three dimensional model of the roof 210 of the building.Also note that the three dimensional model of the roof 210 is overlaidon the roof of the building shown in the aerial image on the right panel204 in accordance with the particular angle of the top oblique view 206of the building. In one embodiment, the interactive three dimensionalmodel of the roof 210 is rendered in response to a user selecting the“create upper” button 214 shown in the screenshot 200.

For example, the screenshot 200 may be displayed as part of the process110 shown in FIG. 2B in which the process initially includes the threedimensional model of the roof 210 described above as part of buildingthe three dimensional model of the building.

FIG. 2B is an example screenshot 220 of the user interface of the systemof FIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showing a planarsurface of the ground 216 under the roof 210, according to onenon-limiting illustrated embodiment.

For example, the screenshot 200 may be displayed as part of the process110 shown in FIG. 2B in which the process receives a measurementindicative of a distance between a reference point on the roof 210 and aground surface 216. In some embodiments, a user may indicate one or morereference point(s) on the ground in the image shown in the right panel204 (e.g., by a mouse click or other selection) to provide thismeasurement. In response to the user selecting the “create lower” button222 shown on screenshot 220, the wall area estimation system will renderthe planar surface of the ground 216 in the corresponding areaunderneath the three dimensional model of the roof 210 according to thereference point selected by the user. Also, the planar surface of theground 216 is an adjustable user interface control such that the usermay change the location (or change height of sections of the perimeter,e.g. the ground surface need not be planar) of the planar surface of theground 216 relative to the three dimensional model of the roof 210 andalso change the size and orientation of the planar surface of the ground216.

FIG. 2C is an example screenshot 230 of the user interface of the systemof FIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showing a threedimensional model of the building 224 generated using the threedimensional model of the roof 210 and the planar surface of the ground216 under the roof shown in FIG. 2B, according to one non-limitingillustrated embodiment.

For example, the screenshot 200 may be displayed as part of the process110 shown in FIG. 2B in which the process generates a wall 226 in thethree dimensional model of the building 224 by extending the wall fromalong a corresponding edge of the roof 210 toward the planar surface ofthe ground 216.

In one embodiment, in response to a user selecting the “create walls”button 228, the wall area estimation system extends the wall 226 adistance until either intersecting planar surface of the ground 216 orintersecting another surface of the roof, according to the threedimensional model of the roof 210. In this manner, both the dimensionsand shape of the wall may be built within the three dimensional model ofthe building 224. These may include, for example, a triangular shape ofthe wall 226 underneath a roof gable as shown in the three dimensionalmodel of the roof 210. This process may be repeated for each exteriorwall of the building to generate the three dimensional model of thebuilding 224.

Once the three dimensional model of the building 224 is generated, wallarea calculations are performed by the system based on the size andshape of the walls of the building in the model 224. These wall areameasurements may be displayed on the graphical user interface, such ason corresponding areas of the walls in three dimensional model of thebuilding 224, or anywhere else within the user interface. Also, thethree dimensional model of the building 224 may be rotated and viewedfrom any angle. For example, this angle may correspond to the angle ofview in the aerial image displayed on the right panel of the graphicaluser interface, such as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is an example screenshot 300 of the user interface of the systemof FIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showing a north sideperspective view of the three dimensional model of the building 224,according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment. Various otherviews from different angles and sides (e.g., south, east and west views;plan, elevation and side views, etc.) may also be rendered and displayedin the left panel 202 and the corresponding right panel 204 thatincludes the image of the building. For example, FIG. 4 is an examplescreenshot 400 of the user interface of the system of FIG. 2A showing aneast side elevation view of the three dimensional model of the building224; FIG. 5 is an example screenshot 500 of the user interface of thesystem of FIG. 2A showing a west side elevation view of the threedimensional model of the building 224; and FIG. 6 is an examplescreenshot 600 of the user interface of the system of FIG. 2A showing atop plan view of the three dimensional model of the building 224.

The three dimensional model of the building 224 can be manipulated bythe user in various manners to effect changes to the model, which resultin automatic corresponding changes to the wall area measurements basedon the walls of the generated building model 224.

For example, FIG. 7 is a screenshot 700 of the user interface of thesystem of FIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showingselection of a building wall 226 of the three dimensional model of thebuilding 224, according to one non-limiting illustrated embodiment. Asshown in FIG. 7, the user has moved the cross hair cursor 202 to selectthe wall 226 of the three dimensional model of the building 224. Notethe selected wall is highlighted in panel 202

FIG. 8 is an example screenshot 800 of the user interface of the systemof FIG. 2A for generating wall area measurements showing removal of theselected building wall 226 of the three dimensional model of thebuilding 224 of FIG. 7, according to one non-limiting illustratedembodiment. Once the wall is removed, it is also removed from the threedimensional model of the building 224 overlaid on the image of thebuilding in the right panel 204, causing the tree 802 previously blockedby the wall 226 to be revealed in the image. As a result, the total areaof all the walls of the house may be reduced by the area of the wall 226that was removed from the building model 224.

In some embodiments, multiple panels of the user interface may each showa different view of the three dimensional model of the building 224.When the user changes the model using the graphical user interface inany one panel, the corresponding change will appear in the other panelsshowing the change as seen from the different corresponding view of eachrespective panel. For example, if the user places a graphical userinterface element representing a window on one of the walls of the threedimensional model of the building 224, then that window will be visiblefrom the different corresponding view of each respective panel. In thismanner, the correct placement of the object or change to the threedimensional model of the building 224 may be visually verified with theimage of the building according to the angle of the building in theimage.

The resulting wall measurements, roof measurements, measurements ofareas missing from the wall, etc., generated by the wall estimationsystem may be used to generate a wall estimate report, or a combinedroof and wall estimate report. The estimate report may include variousdifferent identifiers indicating different features and measurementsdisplayed on images and/or line drawings of the building and/or indifferent areas of the report based on the generated three dimensionalmodel of the building. A non-limiting example of such a report isprovided in Appendix A attached hereto. In some embodiments, the threedimensional model of the building 224 described herein, or some versionthereof, may also be provided in the report. For example, the threedimensional model of the building 224 may be overlaid on an image of thebuilding in the report. The report may be communicated or providedelectronically by the wall estimation system or other 3^(rd) partysystem in various configurations and formats required by the insurance,real estate and construction industries, and/or printed and mailed. Thisreport may also be represented and communicated in different dataformats, such as Extensible Markup Language (XML) files or standardthree dimensional (3D) model and/or computer-aided design (CAD) exchangeformats such as Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML), DrawingInterchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format (DXF) and the like.

In some embodiments, the wall area estimation system may also generateassociations between one or more areas of a wall with one or more wallcharacteristics. These associations may be included in the report asindications (markings, designations, numbers, markings overlaid on linedrawings or images of the wall, etc.) of the associations between theseareas of the wall and the particular wall characteristics. The wallcharacteristics may include characteristics regarding, but not limitedto, one or more of: wall material type, wall construction type, wallcolor, wall covering type, wall paint type, wall siding type, wallfaçade type, wall damage, wall damage type, and extent of wall damage,etc. For example, the report or user interface system may includeindications of portions or areas of the wall that are made of aparticular material such as brick or stucco and/or that appear damagedvs. not damaged, or walls that are painted green vs. blue, etc. The wallarea estimation system may also generate an estimated area of each ofthe one or more areas of the wall associated with particular wallcharacteristics and include these area measurements as indications onthe graphical user interface of the wall estimation system and/or in thereport.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a computing environment in whichsystems and methods for estimation of building wall area may beimplemented or of which they may be a part. For example, processes 100,110 and 120 described above in conjunction with FIGS. 1A-1C may beperformed or implemented by, for example, one or more software modulesor components or any combination of suitable hardware, firmware orsoftware components or devices including those that are a part of,stored in, or configure the computing environment of FIG. 9. Also, thegraphical user interface functions and features of the wall areaestimation system may be performed or implemented by, for example, oneor more software modules or components or any combination of suitablehardware, firmware or software components or devices including thosethat are a part of, stored in, or configure the computing environment ofFIG. 9.

The computing environment 900 will at times be referred to in thesingular herein, but this is not intended to limit the embodiments to asingle device since in typical embodiments there may be more than onecomputer system or device involved. Unless described otherwise, theconstruction and operation of the various blocks shown in FIG. 9 are ofconventional design. As a result, such blocks need not be described infurther detail herein, as they will be understood by those skilled inthe relevant art.

The computing environment 900 may include one or more processing units912 a, 912 b (collectively 912), a system memory 914 and a system bus916 that couples various system components including the system memory914 to the processing units 912. The processing units 912 may be anylogic processing unit, such as one or more central processing units(CPUs) 912 a, digital signal processors (DSPs) 912 b, digital video oraudio processing units such as coder-decoders (codecs) orcompression-decompression units, application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc. Thesystem bus 916 can employ any known bus structures or architectures,including a memory bus with memory controller, a peripheral bus, and alocal bus. The system memory 914 includes read-only memory (“ROM”) 918and random access memory (“RAM”) 920. A basic input/output system(“BIOS”) 922, which can form part of the ROM 918, contains basicroutines that help transfer information between elements within thecomputing environment 900, such as during start-up.

The computing environment 900 may include a hard disk drive 924 forreading from and writing to a hard disk 926 (including a solid statememory device), an optical disk drive 928 for reading from and writingto removable optical disks 932, and/or a magnetic disk drive 930 forreading from and writing to magnetic disks 934. The optical disk 932 canbe a CD-ROM, while the magnetic disk 934 can be a magnetic floppy diskor diskette. The hard disk drive 924, optical disk drive 928 andmagnetic disk drive 930 may communicate with the processing unit 912 viathe system bus 916. The hard disk drive 924, optical disk drive 928 andmagnetic disk drive 930 may include interfaces or controllers (notshown) coupled between such drives and the system bus 916, as is knownby those skilled in the relevant art. The drives 924, 928 and 930, andtheir associated computer-readable storage media 926, 932, 934, mayprovide nonvolatile and non-transitory storage of computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules and other data for thecomputing environment 900. Although the depicted computing environment900 is illustrated employing a hard disk 924, optical disk 928 andmagnetic disk 930, those skilled in the relevant art will appreciatethat other types of computer-readable storage media that can store dataaccessible by a computer may be employed, such as magnetic cassettes,flash memory, solid state drives, digital video disks (“DVD”), Bernoullicartridges, RAMs, ROMs, smart cards, etc. For example, computer-readablestorage media may include, but is not limited to, random access memory(RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disc ROM (CD-ROM),digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magneticcassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, solid state memory or any other medium which can beused to store the desired information and which may be accessed byprocessing unit 912 a.

Program modules can be stored in the system memory 914, such as anoperating system 936, one or more application programs 938, otherprograms or modules 940 and program data 942. Application programs 938may include instructions that cause the processor(s) 912 to performgenerating digital roof models, generating roof and wall areameasurements, and store and display input images or images generated bycreating digital roof models and generating roof and wall areameasurements, including the processes described herein. Other programmodules 940 may include instructions for handling security such aspassword or other access protection and communications encryption. Thesystem memory 914 may also include communications programs, for example,a Web client or browser 944 for permitting the computing environment 900to access and exchange data including digital images, roof measurementsand other building data with sources such as Web sites of the Internet,corporate intranets, extranets, or other networks and devices, as wellas other server applications on server computing systems. The browser944 in the depicted embodiment is markup language based, such asHypertext Markup Language (HTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML) orWireless Markup Language (WML), and operates with markup languages thatuse syntactically delimited characters added to the data of a documentto represent the structure of the document. A number of Web clients orbrowsers are commercially available such as those from Mozilla, Google,and Microsoft of Redmond, Wash.

While shown in FIG. 9 as being stored in the system memory 914, theoperating system 936, application programs 938, other programs/modules940, program data 942 and browser 944 can be stored on the hard disk 926of the hard disk drive 924, the optical disk 932 of the optical diskdrive 928 and/or the magnetic disk 934 of the magnetic disk drive 930.

An operator can enter commands and information into the computingenvironment 900 through input devices such as a touch screen or keyboard946 and/or a pointing device such as a mouse 948, and/or via a graphicaluser interface in order to receive, process, store and send data onwhich wall area measurement estimation has been or will be performed asdescribed herein. Other input devices can include a microphone,joystick, game pad, tablet, scanner, etc. These and other input devicesare connected to one or more of the processing units 912 through aninterface 950 such as a serial port interface that couples to the systembus 916, although other interfaces such as a parallel port, a game portor a wireless interface or a universal serial bus (“USB”) can be used. Amonitor 952 or other display device is coupled to the system bus 916 viaa video interface 954, such as a video adapter which may be configuredto display images used by or generated by wall area measurementestimation as described herein. The computing environment 900 caninclude other output devices, such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computing environment 900 can operate in a networked environmentusing logical connections to one or more remote computers and/ordevices. For example, the computing environment 900 can operate in anetworked environment using logical connections to one or more othercomputing systems, mobile devices and other service providers orinformation servers that provide the digital images in various format orby other electronic delivery methods. Communications may be via a wiredand/or wireless network architecture, for instance wired and wirelessenterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, extranets,telecommunications networks, cellular networks, paging networks, andother mobile networks.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent applicationpublications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patentapplications and non-patent publications referred to in thisspecification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet areincorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of theembodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of thevarious patents, applications and publications to provide yet furtherembodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of theabove-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should beconstrued to include all possible embodiments along with the full scopeof equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, theclaims are not limited by the disclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computing system for generating estimatedwall area measurements, the computing system comprising: at least onecomputer processor; a graphical user interface; and a memory coupled tothe at least one computer processor, the memory having computerexecutable instructions stored on the memory, that, when executed, causethe at least one computer processor to: generate a three dimensionalroof model of a roof of a building, the roof model having measurementsof the roof including information regarding one or more edges of theroof; render, on the graphical user interface, an aerial image of thebuilding showing an oblique view of the building; render, on thegraphical user interface, the roof model overlaid on the roof of thebuilding shown in the aerial image and aligned with the oblique view ofthe building; receive one or more measurements indicative of one or moredistances between one or more reference points on the roof and a groundsurface on which the building rests, based at least in part on receiptof an indication from a user of one or more reference points selected inthe aerial image rendered on the graphical user interface and indicativeof one or more points on the ground surface; generate the ground surfacein a corresponding area underneath the roof model based at least in parton the one or more measurements indicative of one or more distancesbetween one or more reference points on the roof and the ground surface;generate, based at least in part on the roof measurements and the groundsurface, a three dimensional building model of the building based atleast partly on creating one or more wall for the building model byextending the one or more wall from along corresponding edges of theroof toward the ground surface until either intersecting the groundsurface or intersecting another surface of the roof in the roof model;render, on the graphical user interface, the building model overlaid onthe building shown in the aerial image and aligned with the oblique viewof the building; generate an estimated wall area measurement of thebuilding from the building model; and output a wall area measurementestimate report having the estimated wall area measurement of thebuilding thereon, wherein the generated wall estimation report isprovided for repair and/or constructing a structure of the building. 2.The computing system of claim 1, wherein the computer executableinstructions, when executed, further cause the at least one computerprocessor to: render the three dimensional building model of thebuilding within the graphical user interface; provide selectable userinterface elements within the graphical user interface configured to beoverlaid on areas on the one or more wall, the user interface elementshaving dimensions corresponding to areas missing from the one or morewall; receive indications regarding locations on the one or more wall onwhich one or more of the selectable user interface elements have beenoverlaid; and subtract an amount from the estimated wall areameasurement of the building corresponding based on the receivedindications regarding locations on the one or more wall on which one ormore of the selectable user interface elements have been overlaid. 3.The computing system of claim 1, wherein to generate an estimated wallarea measurement of the building from the building model includes:rendering the three dimensional building model of the building withinthe graphical user interface; providing selectable user interfaceelements within the graphical user interface configured to be utilizedby a user to cut out one or more portions of the one or more wall in thedisplayed three dimensional building model; receiving indicationsregarding locations on the one or more wall on which one or more of theselectable user interface elements have been utilized to cut out one ormore portions of the one or more wall; and determining an area of theone or more wall by calculating an area of a shape of the one or morewall formed based on the received indications regarding locations on theone or more wall on which the one or more of the selectable userinterface elements have been utilized to cut out the one or moreportions of the one or more wall.
 4. The computing system of claim 3,wherein the graphical user interface includes windows each displayingdifferent views of the three dimensional building model that areconfigured to concurrently show modifications being made by a user toone or more walls of the three dimensional building model from acorresponding perspective of each of the different views.
 5. Thecomputing system of claim 3, wherein the dimensions corresponding toareas missing from the one or more wall are those of a predefined windowsize or a predefined door size.
 6. The computing system of claim 1,wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed, furthercause the at least one computer processor to: subtract an amount fromthe estimated wall area measurement of the building corresponding to anarea on the one or more wall of the building indicated as an areamissing from the one or more wall.
 7. The computing system of claim 6,wherein the area on the one or more wall of the building indicated as anarea missing from the one or more wall is an area corresponding to awindow or a door of the building.
 8. The computing system of claim 1,wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed, furthercause the at least one computer processor to: receive an indication thatthe one or more wall of the building for which the estimated wall areameasurement is generated is at least partially obstructed by an objectin an image of the one or more wall used to generate the threedimensional roof model; and subtract a predefined percentage from theestimated wall area measurement of the building corresponding to a sizeof the partial obstruction to account for possible areas missing fromthe one or more wall which may be obstructed in the image by the objectin the image.
 9. The computing system of claim 1 wherein the threedimensional model of the roof is based on a correlation between twoaerial images of the roof.
 10. The computing system of claim 1, whereinthe wall area measurement estimate report includes multiple linedrawings of the building, each from a different perspective annotatedwith numerical values that indicate corresponding estimated wall areameasurements for walls visible in the respective perspective.
 11. Thecomputing system of claim 10 wherein the wall area measurement estimatereport includes roof measurements including pitch annotated oncorresponding roof sections.
 12. A computer-implemented method forgenerating estimated wall area measurements, the method comprising:generating, by a computer processor of a system for generating estimatedwall area measurements, a three dimensional roof model of a roof of abuilding as part of a three dimensional building model of the building,the roof model having measurements of the roof including informationregarding one or more edges of the roof; rendering, on a graphical userinterface, an aerial image of the building showing an oblique view ofthe building; rendering, on the graphical user interface, the roof modeloverlaid on the roof of the building shown in the aerial image andaligned with the oblique view of the building; receiving one or moremeasurements indicative of one or more distances between one or morereference points on the roof and a ground surface on which the buildingrests, based at least in part on receipt of an indication from a user ofone or more reference points selected in the aerial image rendered onthe graphical user interface and indicative of one or more points on theground surface; generating, by the computer processor, the groundsurface in a corresponding area underneath the roof model based at leastin part on the one or more measurements indicative of one or moredistances between one or more reference points on the roof and theground surface; generating, by the computer processor, a wall within thethree dimensional building model by extending the wall in the threedimensional building model from along or near an edge of the roofrepresented by the three dimensional roof model toward the groundsurface, the wall extending a distance until either intersecting a levelof the ground surface, or intersecting another surface of the roof,according to the three dimensional roof model; rendering, on thegraphical user interface, the building model overlaid on the buildingshown in the aerial image and aligned with the oblique view of thebuilding; using, by the computer processor, dimensions of the wallgenerated in the three dimensional building model to determine an areaof the wall; and outputting, by the computer processor of the system forgenerating estimated wall area measurements, a wall estimation reporthaving the determined area of the wall thereon and wherein the generatedwall estimation report is provided for repair and/or constructing astructure of the building.